Farrington talks about managers being in charge of employee's development. I wholeheartedly agree and love this idea. He says, "The development of our people is not something to ignore or leave to training departments. The responsibility is ours. We must make sure our people have the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes to do their jobs and to do them well."

This is a sales management issue, and not everyone will agree though most people would say managers should let their employees know these three things:

We recognize their development is important

We will help them gain experience and extend their skills

and we will create a visible system to do so

As sales managers, we are the ones partly responsible for growth in the industry, by the means of education and continual training and bettering. Farrington writes, "Development is not only about correcting weaknesses; it is about upgrading and taking people forward, not least to keep up with change."

how can you help your employees develop? A few suggestions:

Use the development cycle

Keep clear records

Create a culture where development is valued

"Part of our job is helping people to learn" Think on the questions in the beginning of the article. How important is continuous education and how does that tie in with development in sales jobs?

We discussed how you love your employees, you teach them and help them develop. What about if you love your buyers? In Lori Richardson's article, If You Love Your Buyers, Richardson teaches us through simple sentences how we need to treat our buyers. A few excerpts of advice are below:

If you love your buyers:

you'll learn about them before you even contact them

you will meet them where they are most comfortable

you will use stories to describe how you have helped others

you will communicate cleanly, clearly, and honestly

you will want them to win as much as you and your company

it will show

How do you show your buyers that you love them? At what point in your career did you realize the importance of this? Let us know in the comments.